unsuccessful with cakes in TMx

[jflim]

Hi,

I've been trying out cake recipes from the TMx books and they did not turn out well at all. I tried the muffin recipe, under cooked and sticky. The basic sponge had a very eggy smell and it did not rise properly and was not edible. Can't be my oven as I had taken out a perfect butter cake just before putting in the basic sponge batter.
I did try using TMx to mix my batter but the cake did not come up well at all. Most frustrated. 

Can anyone help please?
Thanks

[whisks]

do you think you might be overbeating your cakes? you really don't want to overwork the gluten in cakes. cake batters should be mixed until the flour is incorporated and then poured immediately into the baking pan and baked. you should perhaps try using a recipe from your own repertoire and seeing how the results compare. very often cakes don't turn out because the recipe isn't any good. the only cake i've tried from the edc is the torte caprese, and that was fine. keep in mind that if you use different brands of flour or substitute margarine for butter, results can also vary. test things out using the same recipe and the smae quality of ingredients...and don't overwork the batter. i hope you have better luck.

[Very Happy Jan]

Try this recipe Jflim.
http://www.forumthermomix.com/index.php?topic=1097.0
It is a great recipe that always works and if you read through the reviews you will find that it can be made into a vanilla/custard flavour, have some of the sugar and butter replaced with apple sauce and a few other tweaks.
Hope you have success soon

[Zan]

I've read the basic sponge in the EDC doesn't work.
The Too Easy chocolate cake or whatever it's called in the EDC does and there is the larger one linked below by VHJ that also works.

[judydawn]

I would just concentrate on the cake recipes on the forum for the time being jflim - here you will get reviews and tweaks.  One of my favourites cakes is this one of brazens http://www.forumthermomix.com/index.php?topic=29.0

[thermoheaven]

jf, another thing i have just thought is that i think the flour in malaysia is different to that which we have in australia. are you able to convert any of your trusty recipes to try in the tm?

i find making cakes in the tm very fast and much less messy - the lid and MC stop the flour from flying everywhere, and measuring ingredients diriectly into the bowl simplifies things and cuts down on washing up.

another thought - hoon kway would be incredibly easy to make in the tm (and everything else, lol)

[jflim]

jf, another thing i have just thought is that i think the flour in malaysia is different to that which we have in australia. are you able to convert any of your trusty recipes to try in the tm?

i find making cakes in the tm very fast and much less messy - the lid and MC stop the flour from flying everywhere, and measuring ingredients diriectly into the bowl simplifies things and cuts down on washing up.

another thought - hoon kway would be incredibly easy to make in the tm (and everything else, lol)

Thanks everyone for your tips and suggestions! I shall try again.

Thermoheaven : maybe the flour is different but i dont think that's the big problem. I suspect it's understanding how the TMx beats the batter compared to the normal balloon whisks. Yes i was thinking the same to the fast, less messy and incorporated scales....sigh...

If you are talking about mee hoon kway, yes i make it at least once every two weeks for my kids. They love it. I will post the recipe once i take pics on my next round. Also to get the measurements as i just add and go along until i get the texture i want but it'll be difficult for beginners with 'some of this'  & ' a bit of that'.

[Millipede]

I dont like doing cake batter in the TM. For starters the TM is hopeless at creaming butter and sugar. Plus I HATE having to scrape all the batter out from around and under the blades.

I get better results with and enjoy using a proper cake mixer more. Plus I often bakes cakes while I am preparing dinner, and the TM is being used for dinner prep.

Often I use the TM to prepare ingredients for cakes though,  chop nuts or mash banana's, or mill flour and sugar etc.

[zebraa]

I don't have a proper cake mixer so I use a $15 handheld electric beater and a stainless steel bowl. Or with Muffins I a wooden spoon  :DI love the TMX but it doesn't do cakes or eggwhites well - and I am not even going to bother with cream. Mind you, I did the Orange Muffins today totally in TMX and they were fabulous.

[Meagan]

Re scraping the batter from the blades. Just put the tm bowl back in the base after removing most of it put the lid on and put it on speed 10 for 1-2 seconds and that will whizz everything off the blades and onto the outside of the bowl.

With the egg white whipping make sure you set it to speed 3 only.

Whipping cream is really fast if you use a 600ml carton really cold from the fridge, no butterfly speed 10 for 10-15 seconds or until the noise changes. Really fast and easy. I will post it in a separate thread.

Hope those tips help!!

[Millipede]

Oh I love whipping cream in the TM, but you have to watch it close or it turns to butter. LOL. I've only done eggwhites a couple of times, bit it worked ok.

Re scraping the batter from the blades. Just put the tm bowl back in the base after removing most of it put the lid on and put it on speed 10 for 1-2 seconds and that will whizz everything off the blades and onto the outside of the bowl.

yar thats what I used to do until I bought the mixer- even then I thought that was a bit fussy, but I only did occasional baking the so I lived with it. But like I said, it works better for me now to use a mixer for cakes as that free's up the TM for other food prep.

[SueJen]

Had my THX for nearly 4 months and have made 38 cakes, all from EDC all worked wonderfully, haven't made sponge though

[judydawn]

  That's a lot of cakes SueJen - you obviously have a lot of people to feed. Nice to hear you have had so much success.

[Zan]

Re scraping the batter from the blades. Just put the tm bowl back in the base after removing most of it put the lid on and put it on speed 10 for 1-2 seconds and that will whizz everything off the blades and onto the outside of the bowl.

With the egg white whipping make sure you set it to speed 3 only.

Whipping cream is really fast if you use a 600ml carton really cold from the fridge, no butterfly speed 10 for 10-15 seconds or until the noise changes. Really fast and easy. I will post it in a separate thread.

Hope those tips help!!

Thanks Meagan

[cookie1]

I love baking but must admit I often use my old handbeater. I do love the TMX cakes on the forum though and make those, especially if I need one in a hurry.